Why Life is Strange is Still an Amazing Game Despite the Finale Not Being Up to Par

Life is strange is one of the most amazing games by the developer Dontnod. The game consists of five episodes, the latest of which is released this October. Although there are things in the finale which really do not match with the standard that they have set for themselves, still it is an evocative and morally instructive game with lots of excitement and fun.

It centers around a girl named Max caulfield who is a struggling figure for social acceptance and justice. Max is an interesting character since she can rewind time, thereby she can change the course of events. After realizing this power, she rights what is wrong considering it her responsiblity.

In the beginning of the game, she foresees a huge storm that could potentially take the whole town with it. Therefore, the main character considers it her responsiblity to save her town from this destruction. Therefore, it becomes the goal that a player has to acheive. The sequence of events take shape in accordance with the choices of the player. Making environmental changes along with fetching quests is like puzzle solving in games, by which the player can save the town.

The games revolves around the themes of social acceptance, friendship and bravery. It looks kind of like a coming of age story, because as the game proceeds, Max becomes what she never contemplates and learns things about others that changes her perspective completely towards others.

In the finale, Max is desperate to set things right from the beginning. In the episode’s first half, Max learns the valuable lesson of consequences being incurred if everything happens the way she wants it. This was something which was being hinted at since the first episode of the series. However, what is really surprising in the final episode is that none of the things the players did in the previous episodes matters now, which is kind of disappointing.

There are moments in the game which feel uncomfortable, yet humanly more probable. By the final episode, the game hints at the frailty of human nature. Some of her dialogue options are downright bitter and caustic. She seem ruthless at times in her desperate attempt to save Chloe and her home-town Arcadia Bay from complete destruction.

The horrors people of Arcadia Bay face due to Max’s traveling escapades have been presented with seering emotions, yet at other places the game has lost that thread of emotionality. For example, a horror inducing sequence in the beginning of the episode does not relay that energy at all due to the dialogues and the way of its presentation. In that, the player has to watch the killing scene of a character again and again, thereby losing much of the potency and urgency from that horrifying scene and becoming comical instead.

The game also provides some chilling moments as well. She remembers many conversations from the other episodes while she is treading on places she had been to before. Utterly broken and scared, her condition is pitiable. She feels herself to be a big failure.

However, the pre-apocalyptic scenes are a bit disappointing after everything that let up to it. The relentless rains and the howling winds are incongruous with the calmness of people that Max encounters. There is no sense of urgency that should have been there. The rising sea levels are not followed by people screaming to get away from it.

There are two possible endings of the game. One is extremely good. It takes you on an amazing visual journey where you learn something valuable about life. While the other is not that good and looks more like an afterthought ending.

Life is Strange is an amazing game that has painted an a vocative and vivid picture of a struggling teenager seeking social acceptance and justice. It has some of the most powerful and amazing scenes. Especially Max and Chloe’s story is an amazing one.

If you enjoy similar exciting games, then Superfighters is also one such name which besides having a very cute, familiar art style is full of action and fun.

About The Author

Nat B

Nat is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Uncoached Corporation and all its properties. He loves television, movies, fitness, playing piano, and writing articles worth reading.
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